Egyptian Canopic jars were used during mummification to hold and preserve organs like the liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach that the Egyptians believed were important for the afterlife. The jars had lids shaped like animal heads and were placed in tombs along with the mummy. Egyptians thought the organs were needed for use in the next life and that the heart would be weighed to determine if the deceased lived rightly.

1. Egyptian
Canopic Jars
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2. What Are Canopic Jars?
•The ancient Egyptians used Canopic jars during mummification
to hold and preserve what they thought were their most important organs.
•The organs put inside the jars were the liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach.
•The jars were then put in the tomb with the mummy for burial.
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3. Egyptian Beliefs and Religion
• The Egyptians believed that they would need
their organs to be perfectly preserved so that
they could use them in their next life.1
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4. Egyptian Beliefs and Religion
•The Egyptians did not remove the heart from the
body because they believed it would have to be
weighed entering the afterlife to see if the person
lived a good life or not.1
•They actually disposed of most other organs,
including the brain, because they thought they were
not important and that they wouldn’t need them in the
afterlife.3
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5. EYGPTIAN BOOK OF THE
DEAD
 Above we see an example of the Book of the Dead
 Before the god of the dead, Osiris, the final judgment of the deceased is
decided (in this case Hu-Nefer, the royal scribe)
 Hieroglyphs and illustrations show the ritual of weighing the deceased’s heart
to determine whether he can be granted eternal life.

6. What they looked
like
 The jars were usually made from either clay,
wood, stone, or bronze.2
 Four different heads on the top, each protecting
a different organ:
The baboon head protected the lungs
The falcon protected the intestines
The jackal protected the stomach
The human head protected the liver 1
 Hieroglyphics on the jars asked the Gods to
protect their organs.3
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7. Canopic Jars from 22nd Dynasty (between 924-712 BCE)
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8. 8

9. Modern Day Canopic Jars
Artist William Morris
makes Canopic jars today
inspired by that of the
ancient Egyptians. His
works are larger than
traditional Canopic jars
and feature the animal
head of his choice. The
one pictured is actually
blown glass and is 89.5 x
36.2 cm, nearly four times
the size of traditional
Egyptian Canopic jars!
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10. Works Cited
1. Barrow, Mandy. “Canopic Jars – Ancient Egypt for Kids.” [Online] 14, September, 2008.
<http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/egypt/canopic.htm>
2. Gill, N.S. “What Were the Canopic Jars used for?” [Online] 16, September, 2008.
<http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/mummies/f/CanopicJars.htm>
3. BBC. “H2g2 Canopic Jars.” [Online] 15, September, 2008.
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A34088097>
Online Images
Slide 1: The Moonwillow Catalog. “Canopic Jars.” [Online] 15, September, 2008.
<themoonwillow.com/catalog/images/SC116.JPG>
Slide 5:Kinnear, Jacques. “22nd Dynasty Canopic jars.” [Online] 15, September, 2008. <www.ancient-
egypt.org/.../canopic_group.jpg>
Slide 6: Top-Anaka, S. “Canopic jars.” [Oniline] 16, September, 2008.
<www.sd91.bc.ca/webquests/egypt/canopic.jpg>
Bottom-Thune, Nina A. “19th Dynasty canopic jars of alabaster (Berlin).” 16, September,
2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Krukkerberlin.jpg>
Slide 7: ArtStor. “Canopic jars.” [Online] 25, September, 2008.
<http://http://library.artstor.org.proxy2.cl.msu.edu:2047/library/welcome.html#3|search|1|
canopic20jars|Multiple20Collection20Search|||
type3D3126kw3Dcanopic20jars26id3Dall26name3D>
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